The Beginning
by Multifandom Queen 101
Summary: Albus Potter has a lot to live up to. But he is determined to prove that there is more to him than the Potter family name. Desperate to be seen as an individual and recognized for his own accomplishments, Albus begins investigating the strange happenings at Hogwarts. A forgotten legend and an ancient curse all play a part as Albus and his friends embark on a quest for the truth.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Albus Potter wasn't prepared for life at Hogwarts. No matter how many pep talks, reassuring statements, or pats on the back he received, he knew he wasn't ready. Life at Hogwarts required direction and a sense of who you were and what you wanted to be. Albus knew he didn't meet any of those qualifications.

His older brother James was only too ready to remind him of this. "Hope to see you in Gryffindor," he'd tease. "Although you'll probably be in Slytherin."

His parents were constantly telling James to stop and reminding Albus that they would love him no matter what, but he knew they secretly hoped that he'd be in Gryffindor. It certainly would make his life easier and give him some reassurance that he wasn't doing too much damage to the family name.

Albus felt very jealous of his cousins Louis and Dominique. They both didn't have to be sorted because they weren't attending Hogwarts. They were enrolled at Beauxbatons after their family had moved back to France. Albus' cousin Lucy also was not going to be at Hogwarts. Lucy had a communication disorder that made social interactions hard for her and made her behavior unpredictable. Her parents had received permission to school her at home due to their unusual circumstances.

Albus rather enjoyed Lucy's company and would've liked for her to go to Hogwarts. They would've been in the same year if she had, and he liked the idea that he would have some company who wouldn't judge him. Rose was starting with Albus, and she was making him worry even more than James was. She was constantly reading books on Hogwarts and its history and sharing facts about Gryffindor with Albus that made him even more nervous about whether or not he was worthy.

More than anything, Albus wished that he was at home. He could sleep in late, and then have a fly around his backyard on his Nimbus 2027. Unfortunately, he was already onboard the Hogwarts Express and turning back wasn't an option. Besides, he doubted his parents would let him drop out of school before even starting. His mother in particular was a big fan of not passing judgment on something until she had tried it.

"Albus, just go," she would've said. "If you absolutely hate it, we'll talk about what to do next. Until then, you need to try your best, okay?"

Albus stared out the window of the train. Rain had started to fall, which would make for a miserable boat ride. Albus had been looking forward to the boat ride ever since James, who was starting his third year, had told him of the spectacular view of the castle.

"Well this is just fascinating!" Rose said as she looked up from _Hogwarts: A History_. Her mom had given it to her as a present.

"What is?" Albus asked, needing something to take his mind off of the sorting.

"This entire book!" Rose said enthusiastically. "It's just chalk full of information about the school! You should really read it sometime. I bet they'd have a copy in the library if you want to borrow it!"

"Or I could just borrow your copy," Albus pointed out.

"If I ever put it down!" Rose smiled lovingly at her book. Albus rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure they'll have something else for you to read," he assured her.

"Mum gave me a list of some of her favorite books in the library in case I can't find anything interesting enough," Rose told him. "I'm very excited to look over the selection."

Albus' aunt Hermione was even more of a bookworm than Rose if that was possible. Rose was much better on a broom than Hermione, and definitely much more lenient with rule breaking. Aunt Hermione was such a big fan of rules, many wanted to make her the next Minister of Magic.

"Well it's good to know you'll have something to do other than your studies," Albus said.

"Well I'm certainly not going to slack off just to read!" Rose looked as if the very idea of putting down one book for another was unimaginable. "If I'm going to get top grades I have to concentrate!"

"Absolutely," Albus said trying to keep a straight face.

"You'd better take your studies seriously too, Albus," Rose cautioned. "Think of your future!"  
"Yeah, okay," Albus laughed. He knew that Rose was very focused on her future, but he didn't want to think of his just yet. He could barely keep up with what was going on around him currently. Forget thinking about twenty years from now.

Rose, realizing how ridiculous she sounded, allowed herself a small smile, "Alright, maybe that's thinking too far ahead."

"No kidding," Albus snorted. Just then the trolley lady came by.

"Is there anything you'd like?" she asked kindly.

Rose and Albus both jumped to their feet. They both were looking forward to having a bit of chocolate. After handing over their money, they took their treats back to their seats and began to greedily unwrap them. Rose had forgotten all about her book, and instead, she and Albus swapped Chocolate Frog cards.

They had each made several good trades when James stuck his head in their compartment. "You guys better put your robes on now. We'll be there soon."

Rose immediately packed up the cards and went to change. Albus took a bit longer, looking through his cards and carefully storing them before changing. When he got back to the compartment, Rose's nose was once again buried in her book. Noticing that Albus had returned she looked up and gave him a small smile.

"Got to be prepared," she said gesturing to the book.

Albus didn't see how reading _Hogwarts: A History_ was going to help Rose with anything, but he decided to keep quiet. It wasn't long before the train pulled up at school. Rose seemed even jumpier than Albus as they stepped off the train and looked around. Albus saw James, the twins Fred and Roxanne, and his cousin Molly hop onto a carriage that seemed to pull itself.

"Firs' years over here!" a gruff voice called out. Albus looked to see Hagrid gesturing to where he was standing.

"Hi, Hagrid!" Albus gave him, a hug. Hagrid was a good family friend and had been over for dinner many times. Despite his frightening appearance, he really was harmless. Albus had heard tons of stories from his dad about Hagrid's kindness. He'd also heard plenty of stories about Hagrid's obsession with dangerous animals.

"Hi, Al," Hagrid greeted cheerfully.

"Hello, Hagrid," Rose said.

Hagrid gave Rose a friendly wave and then looked over the sea of nervous faces. "Alright, is that everybody? Good, let's go."

Hagrid led them all to boats bobbing in the lake. There was still a light drizzle, but it didn't seem like it would become a downpour. Albus boarded with Rose, a boy who he recognized as Scorpius Malfoy, and a girl with long dark hair. The boat suddenly lurched forward and everyone in the boat gave a little gasp. There weren't any more disturbances during the boat ride and the lake was smooth.

Reaching over, Rose grabbed Albus' arm, "Albus, look!"

Hogwarts stood before them. Most of the lights were on, and it illuminated the lake. The turrets and towers spiraled high into the night sky. Lanterns flickered along the path leading up to the castle. The strong stone of the castle was made lighter by the glowing lights inside the castle. Albus was at a loss for words. It was the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen.

Nobody spoke at all until they made it into the foyer of the castle. That was when Rose started to tell Albus all the facts she had memorized from her book as if it would be useful. Albus really wished that she would stop. It was making nervous that he would actually learn something before school had even started.

Finally, the doors of the Great Hall opened and a middle aged woman stepped out. She was tall and thin. Her hair was brown, but it was starting to grey in certain areas. She surveyed the first years carefully before saying anything.

"Welcome," she began, "to Hogwarts. My name is Professor Atura, and in addition to being the Transfiguration teacher, I am also the Deputy Headmistress. Professor Agustus, who is the headmaster, and the rest of the staff hope you enjoy your time here as much as we love teaching you." Professor Atura did not look like she enjoyed teaching one bit, or that she hoped that they would enjoy themselves.

"Beyond these doors is the Great Hall. Once inside, you will be sorted alphabetically. There are four houses: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Each house has certain qualities and values it places a particular emphasis on. You will have the opportunity to earn points for your house through good deeds and displays of knowledge. If you break rules, you will lose points from your house. The house with the most points at the end of the year wins the House Cup." She paused to make sure they all knew how important that information was.

"I am the Head of Gryffindor." This she added as an afterthought, as if it wasn't important. "If you will follow me please."

The doors to the Great Hall opened, revealing tables of curious students. Taking a deep breath, Albus followed Rose and the rest of his classmates into the Great Hall.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Albus could feel every pair of eyes on him as he walked down the length of the Great Hall. All of the feeling was starting to seep out of his legs. He was afraid he would collapse if they had to keep walking. Thankfully, they were close enough to the Sorting Hat that they didn't have to walk anymore. Everyone watched the hat apprehensively. Just as things started to get uncomfortable, the hat cleared its throat and began to sing.

 _A long, long time ago_

 _Before you came along_

 _I had the time of my life_

 _Singing my very first song_

 _Telling the story of the four founders great_

 _And the vision they worked hard to create_

 _The qualities one needs to posses_

 _Are the ones that I sort out the best_

 _Gryffindor wanted the brave and strong_

 _Hufflepuff took anyone who came along_

 _Ravenclaw valued wisdom above all else_

 _Slytherin took those with ambition like himself_

 _And now I'll tell you where you ought to be_

 _If you think I've made a mistake,_

 _Then my friends just wait and see_

 _For I am never wrong, and we'll just leave it at that_

 _Remember the wise words of the Sorting Hat_

There was a polite applause and the Sorting Hat gave a small bow. Professor Atura began to read out the names. One by one, the students took turns sitting on the stool and having the hat placed on their head. There was applause for every single person who had been sorted, and Albus wondered if his house would applaud if he was not a Gryffindor. He glanced over at his brother. James gave him a goofy and a big thumbs up. Albus, not feeling any better, turned away.

Scorpius Malfoy became a Slytherin, which was not a surprise to anyone. Albus became increasingly nervous. Notting, Petal was made a Slytherin as well, and then it was Albus' turn. Hands shaking, he made his way over to the stool and let the hat droop over his eyes.

"Hmmm, another Potter," the Sorting Hat mused. "And a very difficult choice indeed. You have the loyal nature of a Hufflepuff, though I don't believe that's the right house for you. A quick and eager mind, but you're certainly no Ravenclaw."

It became a little easier to breathe for Albus. That was two less houses for him to worry about being in. Now it was only a matter of getting into Gryffindor.

"You have plenty of ambition and a definite need to establish yourself as your own person. You'd make a wonderful Slytherin, truth be told."

"But what if I don't want to be a Slytherin?" Albus thought desperately. "What if I want to be a Gryffindor?"

"You want to be a Gryffindor?" The Sorting Hat sounded confused. "Do you not want to be seen as more than your surname?"

"Well, yes," Albus admitted. It would be nice to be seen as Albus and not just another Potter.

"Being in Gryffindor seems like the opposite of progress to me," the hat told him. "Why do you want to be in Gryffindor?"

"To prove that I'm brave," Albus said. "And just because I want to be seen as more than my family name doesn't mean I don't want to make them proud."

"Are you not brave already?" The Sorting Hat asked.

"I think I am," Albus said. "But other people don't seem to think so."

"Albus, think carefully," the hat said slowly. "Is this really the decision that you want to make?"

"Yes."

"GRYFFINDOR!" the Sorting Hat yelled.

The Gryffindor table erupted in cheers. The hat was lifted off of his head, and Albus saw James grinning broadly. He mouthed "I knew it" before giving a piercing wolf-whistle. Albus smiled and made his way over to the table. As he shook hands and received pats on the back, he had no doubt in his mind that he made the right choice. James gave Albus a side hug, a rare gesture of affection that Albus appreciated.

Taking a seat, he returned his attention to the sorting. Sims, Rebecca had just been made a Slytherin. Name after name went by. Rose glanced over at Albus. She looked very pale and every freckle on her face stood out. Her eyes wide and fearful, she turned to look at a pair of twins who had just been sorted into Ravenclaw.

"Weasley, Rose," Professor Atura finally called out.

Taking a deep breath, Rose walked shakily up to the hat. Her hands were trembling as the Sorting Hat was placed on her head. Albus watched anxiously as the hat made its decision. It certainly was taking its time. Finally the hat seemed to reach a decision. He opened his front flap and called out the name of Rose's new house.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Albus grinned broadly and clapped along with the rest of the Gryffindors. Rose was positively beaming as she walked over to the Gryffindor table. She looked greatly relieved. Sitting next to Albus she turned and gave him a broad grin.

"Not bad, eh?" she said happily.

"Not bad at all," Albus agreed.

Once all of the students had been sorted, Professor Augustus stood in front of a podium and began to speak. "Well, it certainly is wonderful to see all of you returning students again. And I'm delighted to welcome all of our new students. We hope you find a second home here and enjoy your time as a student." Unlike Professor Atura, he sounded like he meant it.

"Now, there are a couple of rules I would like to go over. Mr. Filch, our caretaker, has informed me that he has added several new additions to the list of banned items. The full list now names over 900 forbidden items, and you can find it outside of the caretaker's office." He looked around amused, knowing full well that the list would be ignored throughout the school year.

"The Forbidden Forest is also off limits to all new and returning students," Professor Agustus looked extremely serious. "I also would like to remind you that Quidditch tryouts are not open to first years. I wish you all a fantastic year, and let's dig in!"  
Heaps of food appeared in front of Albus. He had always been well-fed at home, but nothing compared to the feast sitting in front of him. There was so much food he couldn't imagine the entire table being able to eat it all. Without hesitation, Albus began loading his plate. Now that the sorting was over, he found himself extremely hungry. He hadn't had breakfast, and while he did eat a little on the train, chocolate made a poor meal.

Albus ate so much dinner; he barely had any room for desert. However, he managed to make room for a bit of cheesecake. He felt so full and sleepy that Rose had to give him a nudge when it was time to leave the Great Hall.

"First years, this way!" the Gryffindor prefect called out.

Albus followed sleepily behind, barely realizing where he was going. He hoped Rose would take notice of where they were because he wasn't going to remember, that he was certain of. Suddenly, the group came to a halt in front of a portrait of a fat woman.

"This is the Fat Lady," the prefect explained. "To get into the common room, you must give her the password." He turned to the Fat Lady, " _Lion pride_."

The portrait swung out, revealing a hole. Climbing through, Albus stood in the middle of a very warm room. It was furnished with comfy looking chair and worn side tables. The walls and windows were draped in red. A roaring fire was going, making Albus feel even sleepier.

"Boys dormitories are that way," the prefect pointed up one staircase. "Girls that way," he pointed up the other. "You'll find your things have already been delivered. You must be back in this common room by 9 o'clock each night, though there is no set time for when you should be in bed."

"Girls, follow me," the female prefect said, heading up the girls' staircase.

"Boys," the other prefect said.

Albus followed him up the stairs and walked into the dorm labeled " _First Years"_. There were several other boys in the dorm with him. They introduced themselves as Jacob, Preston, and Oliver. Albus didn't have much time to talk to them, they were all too tired.

After putting on his pajamas, Albus practically dived into bed. Burying himself underneath the covers, Albus fell asleep almost at once, excited for his coming days at Hogwarts.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Albus woke to the sound of his roommates getting out of bed. Light filtered through the windows of the room as Albus swung out of bed. Opening his trunk, he riffled through it, looking for his robes. Managing to find them, he straightened up and went to change.

Rose was waiting for him when he came down the stairs and into the common room. "I hope you know which way to go," Albus told her, "because I've completely forgotten."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Lucky for you, I do happen to know exactly where we're going."

"Well I'm glad to hear that one of us knows what we're doing," Albus smirked.

The two of them started off to the Great Hall. "You couldn't have paid attention when the prefects were giving directions?"

"I was too tired!" Albus protested.

Rose mumbled something under her breath about the amount of food he had eaten, but didn't say anything more. She didn't seem to be too upset, as she was perfectly friendly all through breakfast. Albus spent most of breakfast with Rose talking about the classes they had that day.

"Double Potions, Transfiguration, and Defense Against the Dark Arts," Albus read off. "That doesn't seem too bad, does it?"

Rose pursed her lips, "Transfiguration's supposed to be hard, isn't it?"

"Transfiguration is the worst," James said, taking a seat next to Rose. "Professor Atura is a real nasty piece of work."

Rose looked disbelieving, but Albus started to worry. She hadn't been exactly friendly when she had greeted him, but James was describing her as a nightmare instead of an unusually strict teacher. It didn't do much to ease his fears that he wouldn't do well in his classes.

"Always gives a ton of homework," James was saying. "And Transfiguration's hard enough on its own without an awful teacher to go along with it."

"She really can't be that bad," Rose said, clearly unconvinced.

"Trust me," James said darkly, "she is. Enjoy your breakfast," James said as he left to join his friends.

"He was lying," Rose told Albus. "He was just saying that scare us," she added in a disproving sniff to show how little she cared what James thought of Professor Atura.

Albus miserably picked at his sausages. He wasn't looking forward to his classes nearly as much now. Trust James to ruin everything. Albus looked over to see his brother laughing with his friends. How was he so calm? True, he'd been at Hogwarts longer, but he was starting new classes too this year. Yet he didn't look even a little nervous.

Turning away, Albus stared at his schedule. It really didn't seem like that bad of a day, except for Transfiguration. He'd met the Potions professor once or twice, and he seemed nice enough. And while he didn't know the Defense professor yet, he was sure that it would be all right. Besides, Rose wasn't worried, so why should he be?

Feeling slightly better, Albus began to eat with more enthusiasm. He and Rose were joined with Jacob, a Gryffindor from Albus' dorm. He was very friendly, and also was worried about his classes.

"I'm really worried about Potions," Jacob confided. "I've heard that the professor likes to play favorites."

Albus had been told the exact same thing, "My dad says not to worry about it too much. As long as you try your best, I'm sure you'll do fine." Rose nodded in agreement.

"Oh, are your parents wizards?" Jacob asked fascinated. "Mine are both non-magical."

"They're muggles?" Rose asked. "Oh, how exciting! You must know all about technology and all of that muggle stuff!"

"Erm, yes, I suppose," Jacob said. He looked slightly bemused at Rose's reaction. "I guess you two already know a lot coming from wizard families."

"Not really," Albus reassured him. "I mean, Rose here probably knows a little more. But that's only because she only did a lot of studying before coming here."

Jacob visibly relaxed, "Well it's good to know that I'm not at a great disadvantage."

"We'd better go or we're going to be late," Rose said standing.

"Do you know where the Potions room is?" Jacob asked Rose and Albus.

"Not exactly," Rose admitted. "But I think it's somewhere in the dungeon."

"Do you know where the dungeons are?"

"At the very bottom," Rose said matter-of-factly. "So we just go straight down and hope somebody can give us directions from there."

They managed to find a staircase leading down into what Albus hoped was the dungeon, but they couldn't find the classroom. They wandered along the length of the hall. Talking could be heard coming out of one of the rooms. Albus nudged Rose.

"I can hear talking from in there," he told her and Jacob.

They both followed him and stuck their heads in the room. A professor was standing at the front addressing a class. On closer inspection, Albus was relieved to find that it was the class he was supposed to be in. The trio tried to be a quiet as possible as they slipped inside, but the professor spotted them. He looked as if he was going to tell them off, but once he saw Albus, his agitated expression became one of joy.

"Mr. Potter! Miss Weasley! Delighted to have you in class! Is this young man a friend of yours?" he asked.

"Yes," Albus said. He may have only just met Jacob, but he wasn't about to tell the teacher that. He had a feeling Jacob wouldn't be let off easily if the professor knew the truth.

"Hello there! I'm Professor Slughorn, the Potions master," he boomed.

"Jacob Trembly. Pleasure to meet you, sir," Jacob eyed Slughorn wearily.

"Gryffindors are on that side," Professor Slughorn pointed to the left.

"We have to sit on separate sides?" Albus couldn't remember that being mentioned to him.

Slughorn blushed, "I just thought it would be best for you to have an opportunity to interact with you housemates," he blustered. "But if you want to sit on the right, than by all means go ahead."

Albus didn't answer, but he did take a seat on the left side of the room. He wasn't really sure that he liked Professor Slughorn. He certainly did seem to play favorites and give special treatment, a concept that made Albus uncomfortable.

"Now, as I was saying, today we will be making a basic Potion of Boils, which will give whoever drinks it a nasty set of boils, hence the name. Turn to page 2 in your books and follow the instructions provided. Any and all materials needed can be found in this cabinet," Slughorn gestured behind him at a tall cupboard.

"You have the period to complete your potion. Fifty points will be given to the person with the best potion, ten for those with satisfactory work," he grinned. "So get to it!"

Albus collected his materials and began to prepare them. The potion looked simple enough. He began cutting up roots. He was right about the potion being simple. The second he put the ingredients in, the potion turned the dark brown color it was supposed to. He looked over at Jacob and Rose's cauldron, and was surprised to find that both of them had made little progress.

"How'd you get yours to look like that?" Jacob gaped at Albus.

"I dunno," Albus admitted. "I just put everything in, like the book said."

"So did I, but mine doesn't look as good as yours," Jacob said in awe.

"Try checking the temperature," Albus advised before giving his potion a quick stir.

By the end of the lesson, Albus' potion was perfect. It was the exact color and texture of the potion in the book. He was very proud of himself. That really hadn't been so bad. Albus didn't get why people stressed so much about Potions.

Slughorn came around examining each potion. Occasionally he would give an approving nod. Most of the time however, he just shook his head and explained what one had done incorrectly. When he got to Jacob's potion, he gave him a friendly smile and approving nod. Rose's potion earned her an "excellent!" Then Slughorn came over to Albus.

"Well, well, well," Slughorn said ominously. He inspected the potion for a couple of seconds before breaking out into a wide grin. "Fantastic, Albus! This is simply wonderful! It is exactly how the book describes it! Fifty points to Gryffindor."

Albus glowed with pride, "Thank you sir."

"And as an extra prize, you will not have to do the homework," Slughorn strode to the front of the class. "The rest of you will need to write me seven inches on what went wrong with your potion and what you could do to improve in the future."

And giving Albus an extra large smile, he ushered them all out of the dungeon.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Albus might have survived Potions, but Transfiguration certainly was a challenge. He had assumed James was exaggerating about the awfulness of Professor Atura. By the end of the lesson, Albus was sure James had played-down how horrible she really was.

After lunch, they had all walked to the Transfiguration classroom. The first thing Professor Atura had done was let them know exactly what they were in for.

"Many of you," she had said, "are under the impression that you are clever, or bright. You are not. Not a single person in this room has yet acquired even the most basic knowledge of the noble study of Transfiguration. Even those of you who read over the theory during the summer are at no real advantage."

Rose looked extremely worried. Albus knew that she had been poring over her Transfiguration book, attempting to understand the theory. It had seemed like a waste to him then, and it seemed that he had been right. He did feel bad for Rose though, who was looking rather pale.

"Transfiguration is an extremely demanding subject, and to properly teach you all you need to know, you will find my class has a slightly heavier workload. Never will there be a day where you have less than two hours of homework from me," she told them, daring them to protest.

Albus' mouth was not the only one that dropped open. Two hours for just one class? How was he going to manage it all? Albus' tongue suddenly felt unnaturally dry. He and Jacob looked at each other, both extremely panicked.

"You may think that this is a lot," Professor Atura said as if reading their minds, "but it is necessary if you want to be successful. Speaking of work, please hand in the essays you wrote over the summer."

Albus quickly pulled his out of his bag. Transfiguration had been the only class he had had summer work for. They were expected to write a foot about what they were most looking forward to learning. The assignment had seemed fairly straightforward at the time, but now Albus was wondering if he had done his the standards of Professor Atura. He doubted it.

"Please read chapter one," she said sitting behind her desk. "At the end of class I'll take a few minutes to go over the results of your essays."

Albus did his best to read the chapter, but he either would lose his place, not be fully paying attention, or not understand what he was reading. Rose, on the other hand, had already read chapter one, and was simply skimming over it for review.

"What a nightmare," Jacob whispered to Albus and gestured up towards the teacher's desk. "Two hours every night!"

"Tell me about it," Albus whispered back. "We won't have time for anything."

"Do you think we could get Rose to help us? She seems to already know this stuff," Jacob asked hopefully.

The idea to ask Rose for help had not occurred to Albus, but it seemed like a very good one. "Yeah," Albus said brightening up. "I bet if we asked her she'd help us with our assignments."

"Potter! Trembly!" Professor Atura snapped. "Is there a problem?"

"I had a question about wand theory and I was asking Albus about it," Jacob lied smoothly.

Professor Atura studied him carefully before speaking, "Ten points from Gryffindor for talking. Don't let me catch you talking again, or it will be detention. And if you have questions, you may come see me after class."

Jacob wisely kept his mouth shut and returned to his work. Albus followed the suit. He really didn't want to get detention. His parents would kill him. They had enough detentions to deal with, courtesy of James.

Rose gave Albus an easily readable look, letting him know exactly how little she thought of Professor Atura. The fact that somebody else was on his side made Albus feel slightly more assured as he attempted to finish the chapter.

Towards the end of class, Professor Atura instructed them to put their books away. "I am not pleased," she said dangerously, pacing the front of the room.

"I can't say I'm surprised at the poor quality of these papers, it was what I had been expecting. However, I was not expecting all but one of you to fail," she said in an extremely quiet voice.

Albus was horrified. Only one person had passed? How was that possible? His essay certainly wasn't a masterpiece, but he was sure it would've gotten him at least an "A". Now it seemed that he hadn't done as well as he had hoped. He shuddered to think what his parents would say if they found out he had failed his first assignment.

"All but one of you received a 'D'," she said furiously. "Are you all really so thick skulled that you are incapable of writing a decent essay? Never in all my years of teaching have I seen a class do as poorly as this."

Albus didn't think that was true. It seemed to him like it was impossible to pass, not fail.

"I've had classes where only two students passed," she hissed, "but never only one." Looking around the room, her eyes fixed on Rose, who gulped. "Congratulations to Miss Rose Weasley, who has scraped by with an 'A'. Your essay, though it leaves a lot to be desired, was the only decent one in the lot." She tossed Rose's paper before her. It was covered in red marks.

"The rest of you are lucky that I found it in my kind hear not to give you all 'T's," she said stiffly. Albus wasn't sure that Professor Atura even had a heart, let alone a kind one, but he didn't dare say that out loud.

"For your homework," she said, "you will be rewriting you essays using the notes I have provided in the margins. I expect all of you to hand in satisfactory essays, or I will be writing home. You also will need to finish chapter for and give me a two foot summary of what you've read. There also will be a quiz on chapter one next class, so be sure to review for that."

Albus scrambled to copy all of the homework down. He wasn't expecting to get much sleep that night. Not only did he have two essays to write, but now he had a test to study for. At least he didn't have Potions homework.

"You may go," Professor Atura dismissed them with a wave of her hand. Grumbling, everyone filed out.

"I wrote five scrolls," Rose said angrily, "and all I got was an 'A'."

"At least you passed," Albus said, gloomily staring at the big red "D" that was scrawled on the top of his paper.

But Rose appeared not to have heard. "Five rolls!"

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 **A/N: Reviews make the world go round**


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